Sex Work in Victorian London

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, Sex, Scandal, Education, History

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What were the lives of women like who sold sex in the Victorian era? How did the law makers and moral crusaders of the time try to control it? How did sex workers create community in the 19th century?

In the final part of our mini-series on sex work throughout history, Kate's joined by Dr. Julia Laite, historian, professor of history at Birkbeck University, to take us back to the Victorian era.

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm your host, Kate Lister.
0:02.4	If you would like betwixt the sheets, add free and get early access, sign up to History Hit.
0:08.7	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of original documentaries with top history presenters.
0:16.0	And enjoy a new release every single week.
0:19.8	Sign up now by visiting history hit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:24.7	Hello, my lovely betwixters.
0:26.5	It's me, Kate Lister.
0:27.8	You are a betwixtor and you are listening to Betwixtor sheets.
0:31.3	And I'm so, so glad that you are.
0:33.5	But for your safety, my safety, and, well, the lawyer's safety,
0:36.6	I have to tell you, this is an adult podcast spoken by adults, other adults about adulty things in an adulty way, covering a range of all subjects and you should be an adult too. Oh my God, everybody knows this by now, don't we? You know it, I know it. I hope that the lawyer bloody well knows it. But anyway, let's get on with the show.
1:01.0	Join me for a stroll for the streets of Victorian London.
1:03.0	I hope you got your wits about you,
1:07.8	because this is not the Tweed London of chocolate box sentimentality.
1:10.8	Oh no, this is dark and this is is dangerous and this is home to hundreds of thousands
1:13.6	of people all crammed in on top of one another. And as always, wherever you get poverty, you will get
1:20.7	sex work. But what were their lives really like? How did Victorians legislate around sex work? And why were the Victorians so
1:30.3	damn fascinated by what they referred to as the great social evil? Well, I think I'm ready to
1:36.1	find out. Are you ready to find out? Let's do it.
1:43.7	What do you look for a man?
1:47.4	Oh, money, of course.
1:48.9	You're supposed to rise when an adult speaks to you.
	...

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